The present invention relates to a door component, a related door, and to a method for manufacturing the same. The door may advantageously be an external domestic door.
There are various types of doors and methods for manufacturing them known in the door manufacturing industry, and the present invention is of particular relevance to what is commonly referred to as an external domestic door, preferably in both contemporary and traditional stiles and rails door designs.
A problem associated with the construction of external domestic doors is that it is challenging to achieve improved thermal insulation performance that complies with the governmental building regulations, while maintaining structural integrity and security. The design of a door component, particularly the door core, should be considered in meeting those requirements.
Most existing timber door cores typically comprise a solid timber core with plywood skins, while traditional stiles and rails doors comprise a solid timber core secured within a frame formed of rails and stiles, with only the panels being thermally insulated by way of polystyrene foam sandwiched between plywood. In both types of construction, preferably a decorative surface veneer can be added for aesthetic purposes.
Various building regulations or consumer demand encourage external doors to be energy efficient; and, in order to comply with those requirements, existing timber rail and stile doors are produced with insulating foam sandwiched only in the door panels. However, this compromises the structural integrity and security of the door and does not maximize thermal insulation properties across the door. Thus, there remains a need for alternative approaches to door and door component design.